The head of Nigeria’s National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has commended thousands of outgoing university graduates for their contributions to community development as they complete their mandatory one-year national service.
In a farewell message issued by Caroline Embu, the scheme’s director of information and public relations, the leadership praised the 2025 Batch ‘C’ corps members for their resilience, civic commitment, and public service projects across the country.”You have answered the call to serve with courage, passion, and an unwavering commitment to the ideals of our great nation,” Embu said in the statement, adding that the outgoing cohort had left a lasting impact on their host communities through local development initiatives.
The NYSC scheme—established in 1973 following Nigeria’s civil war to foster national unity and integration—requires Nigerian university and polytechnic graduates under the age of 30 to serve for one year in states outside their home regions. Participants are typically deployed to public schools, rural healthcare facilities, local government offices, and private enterprises.
Addressing concerns over youth unemployment in Africa’s most populous nation, the leadership urged the graduating corps members to leverage vocational and business management training provided during the service year.
Graduates were encouraged to apply skills gained through the scheme’s Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) program to launch independent ventures and create jobs in the private sector.”Be pioneers—forge new paths, create opportunities, and become beacons of hope for others,” the statement read, calling on the outgoing participants to maintain core values of integrity, teamwork, and self-reliance as they enter the workforce.
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